Storytelling goes back farther than recorded human history. It is a method for helping people understand human existence and its meaning, and is an art form that has been a part of history and religion as long as language has existed.

You remember the stories far longer than the Spam sandwiches.

Many of us think of storytelling in the context of fairytales and mythology we may have learned as children, but it is as relevant to adults as it is to the young. Logic tells us that simply listing facts is a way to persuade and educate. After all, they’re facts. However, reality tells us that putting facts in the context of a cohesive narrative makes a far greater impact. In fact, logic puzzles presented in the context of a story are much easier for most people to comprehend. Here’s why storytelling makes you more persuasive and has an important role in business and leadership.

Stories Pluck Emotions

A brain structure called the amygdala is the structure that lets the rest of the brain know it needs to pay attention. What activates the amygdala? Emotions. Interestingly, emotions can have an even more powerfully persuasive effect in a group situation. Think about the last comedy or scary movie you watched with friends. Chances are, the audience was synced up as far as expressing emotions at various plot points.

When stories are rich in emotional content, both speaker and listener experience a flood of neurochemicals, and the result can be both parties being “on the same page,” so to speak. In other words, stories that pique emotions are excellent for communicating ideas.

Emotions Directly Aid Memory

A study published late in 2016 in the journal Nature Neuroscience tested volunteers for memory based either on neutral images or images that would trigger an emotional reaction. Subjects were given an unexpected memory test six hours later. Not only did people shown emotional images remember them better, they could also better remember neutral images presented after the emotionally charged ones.

Brain imaging studies with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) found that two brain structures, the amygdala and the hippocampus (which is the center of memory function), lit up after people viewed emotionally-oriented images, and the effect persisted for up to half an hour afterward.

Turning Information into a Narrative

Entertainment can be the perfect way to impart critical information.

Teasing apart “facts” from narrative may feel efficient, as if it’s getting rid of the excess information so that the facts have more intellectual “room.” However, that is proving again and again not to be effective. You don’t need to put hard facts and narratives in separate worlds that never meet, because facts encased in stories are almost certain to make better sense, and be remembered better than facts devoid of context.

The Elements of Good Storytelling

Stories don’t have to have elaborate arcs and subplots to be effective. The standard “character-plus-predicament-plus-resolution” formula can be remarkably powerful. Bear in mind, however, that storytelling is a skill like any other, and even masterful storytellers have room for improvement.

In general, stories that hold their audiences rapt are ones where tension increases as the “hero” faces and meets a challenge. The first thing to do is set the scene and have the hero arrive at an important question. Next comes the journey of finding the answer to that question, and challenges and setbacks can be key elements here. Once the core question is answered, the story can end with a key takeaway.

This technique can work whether you’re giving a presentation, making a sales pitch, or giving an interview. By all means, practice beforehand with someone who is generally sympathetic, but willing to be honest if parts of your narrative fall short.

Our lives are made up of narratives. Tangible “things” go away with time, but memories can last a lifetime and are infinitely portable without carrying digital devices or having Wi-Fi access. Facts are important, of course, but presented alone, devoid of context, they’re not always memorable. Facts couched in a compelling narrative, however, reach people emotionally, firing up the very brain structures that are needed to lay down lasting memories.

Learn to tell a story well, and you have a powerful communication tool that can take you far, whatever level you may have achieved on the corporate ladder. My 30-plus years studying and practicing leadership coaching and corporate culture transformation have shown me time and again how powerful stories are at reaching people, and why storytelling is a skill that every leader should have in their toolkit.

Unfortunately, many meetings take place because of routine. Perhaps there has always been a Friday morning meeting, and always will be. That’s not a good enough reason to have a meeting, and there’s a good chance that many such meetings are rambling, boring, and accomplish nothing.

Meetings don’t have to be a “necessary evil.” They can be useful, productive, and even enjoyable.

Yet, meetings are sometimes necessary and can be the best way to communicate ideas and design strategies. How can you ensure that every team meeting is necessary, productive, and empowering? Here are six tips for making sure your team meetings are effective and accomplish what they’re meant to do.

1. Ensure the Meeting Has a Definable, Measurable Goal

If your meeting doesn’t enable progress toward either a big, one-off decision or routine decisions that have significance, then maybe you shouldn’t have it. Every meeting should have a definable, measurable goal, which could be anything from determining which research will be submitted to a technical conference to short-listing venues for the annual holiday luncheon.

2. Invite the Right People to the Meeting

Unfortunately, there are organizations where people attend as many meetings as possible in order to feel useful, to “gather intelligence,” or just to appear busier or more in-demand than they actually are. The people you invite to meetings should be invited based upon their role in making progress toward the goal of the meeting. Including unnecessary attendees rarely does anything except slow things down.

3. Distribute Background Information the Day Before

When you distribute pertinent information to meeting attendees the day before the meeting, and that information reinforces the purpose of the meeting, you can make meetings shorter and more productive. There’s no reason to spend valuable meeting time having everyone read over test results or learn about information they could easily learn about on their own, beforehand.

4. Don’t Halt Meetings to Help Latecomers Catch Up

Make it a practice not to backtrack when someone shows up late to a meeting. If that someone is indispensable to the meeting, reschedule it. If they’re not, don’t “reward” them for being late by forcing everyone in the room to rehash information they have already covered. It’s rude and unfair to those who made the effort to be on time, and can throw off the whole pace of the meeting.

Make it clear that you appreciate people showing up on time and participating.

5. Don’t Tackle Group Writing Projects in Meetings

Technology can handle the task of crafting a team document. If your team still creates group documents around a table, the quality of those documents is probably mediocre at best, and you’re probably wasting several people’s time by doing it that way. Consider investing in training your team on using collaborative software and learning to use shared documents. It can save considerable time in the long run.

6. Document and Distribute Meeting Results within 24 Hours

If your meeting has a goal and doesn’t go off track, you should have something to report at the end of it. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate document, and it can be sent by email or even group chat. But you should document completion of your meeting’s goal in some form, both for future reference and to clarify what went on. For instance, “Joanna and Mike will write up the results of the engineering tolerance tests for submission to the annual conference. Carol, Jane, and David should forward their data spreadsheets to them before Friday” is both succinct and sufficient for your purposes.

Team meetings are a fact of life, and when they have purpose and direction, they can be great for making progress. Unfortunately, many people equate simply having a meeting with making progress, and that’s not necessarily the case.

Make sure each meeting has a goal, includes the appropriate people, makes background information available ahead of time, and documents the results, and you go a long way toward ensuring that meetings make a difference. If participants are assured that there will be no backing up and starting over for latecomers, and no excruciating “group writing” sessions, they’re more likely to look forward to meetings rather than dreading them.

Meetings are one element in overall organizational culture, and getting them right is a positive step for everyone involved. I invite you to learn more about my corporate culture services because outstanding organizational culture is where innovation and accomplishment thrive.

We recently asked consultant Julie Winkle Giuliani about her journey to becoming a performance improvement specialist.

“My entire work history revolves around learning…starting with my first job teaching modeling and charm classes to young children. From there I went on to teach at the high school and university level before returning to industry in several training management roles. However, I really had a chance to hone my craft at Zenger Miller and AchieveGlobal as a consultant and ultimately as the director of product development. For the past sixteen years, I’ve had the pleasure (and pressure) of consulting through my own firm with organizations worldwide. Most recently, my journey led me to co-author an Amazon bestselling book, Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Employees Want.”

Julie shares her expertise through consulting, instructional design, speaking, training and her blog. She recently chatted with us about performance improvement through learning. Here’s what she had to say:

On your website, you state, “Regardless what business you’re in, it’s a ‘people’ business.” How should that realization change how people conduct themselves in the workplace?

Businesses are run by people (known as management and employees) for the benefit of other people (known as customers). People are at the heart of an operation. Processes and systems are enablers; but it’s people who make things happen … or don’t.

This realization should mean that we: prioritize the ‘soft skills’; focus on relationships: and always lead with the ‘human case’, knowing it will support the ‘business case. It should also mean that we can all bring our humanity to work, knowing that it’s valued and will contribute to success.

Is performance improvement through learning possible for everyone?

Absolutely. I believe that everyone has the capacity to learn, grow, and perform well. What’s required is the proper training and support – as well as the motivation to do so. When leaders get to know the employee and genuinely connect with the whole person, all three requirements can be met.

What is the first step one should take in order to improve his or her performance at work?

As with any improvement effort, assessing baseline conditions is critical. So, evaluating where you are today is the ideal starting point. This involves both individual reflection and data gathering in the form of feedback. Getting honest feedback means approaching it with a genuine curiosity to learn and the absence of defensiveness. When people bring this receptive spirit to focused, open-ended questions like the following, they can confidently take the first steps toward improvement.

How am I doing … really?

How do I add value to our operation?

How can I better serve our customers (internally or externally)?

What one change could I make that could have the greatest positive effect on my contributions?

What could I do more/less of to be a better partner?

How do people achieve next-level readiness to learn and move up in their careers?

Next-level readiness demands that people squeeze as much growth and learning as possible out of the position they currently hold. It requires consciously mining the role they’re in for skills, abilities, and experiences that complement and extend their capabilities.

I would, however, caution people to think less about ‘next level’ and ‘moving up’ and more about the kind of work they want to do, things they want to accomplish, problems they want to solve. As children, we’re conditioned to focus on what we want to ‘be’ when we grow up … and we bring the ‘be’ focus to the workplace.

But, given today’s business landscape – flatter organizations, fewer levels to which to ascend, baby boomers working longer and occupying ‘next – level’ roles – a ‘being’ orientation can be limiting and frustrating. Instead, it’s wiser to shift the focus to what we want to ‘do’ and, in so doing, we open up a lot more opportunity for challenge, experiences, learning and growth.

Do you think positive thinking is an essential part of achieving his or her goals?

It certainly is key to my own goal attainment. But, I prefer to think of it as setting myself up for success. The most effective professionals and executives I know have cultivated positive mental habits that support focus, enable discipline, and encourage persistent, constructive action. Results don’t come from mere thinking, rather from translating that positive state of mind into action and forward momentum.

What things should a successful person never do?

A successful person should never feel so accomplished and effective that he or she stops experimenting, stretching to the point of possible failure … and learning and growing in the process.